Children who are born in Norway

Here you'll find information about how your child will be registered in the National Population Register when they are born in Norway. You can read about how the child gets a national identity number, citizenship, parental responsibility, and name.

Births with a midwife or doctor present

The midwife or doctor submits a birth notification to the Tax Administration.

Births without a midwife or doctor present

The mother must submit a birth notification within one month of the birth.

To submit a birth notification, you must book an appointment and go to a tax office. There you'll receive a form to fill in.

Remember to bring a valid proof of your identity and proof of your relation to the child. Such proof could be your antenatal health card.

If the Tax Administration cannot register the birth

If we're uncertain about the relationship between mother and child, we'll send the case to Nav for processing. We'll let you know if we send your case to Nav.

 

When we approve the birth notification, the child will receive a national identity number. The national identity number consists of eleven digits and is used to identify individuals.

We do not notify the parents of an issued national identity number, but you can see the information we have registered for your child by logging in.

 Paternity

If the mother is registered as married to the child's father when the child is born, you do not have to do anything. The husband will automatically be registered as the father of the child.

If the mother is not registered as married in the National Population Register, you must submit proof of the marriage.

If the mother and father are registered as separated or unmarried, the father must declare paternity.

If the mother is married to someone who is not the child's father, you must contact Nav (in Norwegian only) to change paternity.

Co-maternity

If the child was conceived through assisted reproduction, and the mother's cohabiting partner or spouse is a woman, you can apply for co-maternity.

If the child was not conceived through assisted reproduction, the mother's female cohabiting partner or spouse can apply for stepchild adoption (in Norwegian only).

If the mother has had the child alone, through the help of a donor

The Tax Administration does not require you to do anything. Read more about what Nav requires you to do (in Norwegian only).

When the child is registered with parents in the National Population Register, we register which citizenship(s) the child has and who has parental responsibility.

Citizenship

If the mother, father or co-mother is a Norwegian citizen when the child is born, the child will automatically be registered as a Norwegian citizen.

If the mother is registered in the National Population Register with a citizenship other than Norwegian when the child is born, the child will automatically be registered with the same citizenship as the mother.

If the mother has a citizenship other than Norwegian, but the father or co-mother is a Norwegian citizen, the child will be registered with both Norwegian citizenship and the mother's citizenship.

If the child is to be registered with a different citizenship or more citizenships than the citizenship of the parents, you must prove this. You can find more information about citizenship here.

Parental responsibility

As a rule, parents are registered with joint parental responsibility for all children born from and including 1 January 2020. This applies to children with married parents, cohabiting parents, and with parents who do not live together.

If the mother wants sole parental responsibility 

Parents who are not married or do not live together can, within one year after the paternity has been declared, notify the National Population Register that the mother wants sole parental responsibility. To do so, use the form Notification about sole parental responsibility to mother (PDF).

If the father subsequently wants joint parental responsibility, he can take the case to court. The court will conclude what’s best for the child based on an individual assessment. You can find more information about the rules on the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir). This page is only available in Norwegian.

Parents who separate

Parents who separate will still be registered with joint parental responsibility. They can change the parental responsibility to sole parental responsibility for one parent by entering into an agreement for parental responsibility. Parental responsibility can also be changed by a court order.

Married parents

Parents who are married when the child is born are automatically registered with joint parental responsibility.

Cohabiting parents

Parents registered with the same address in the National Population Register when the father signs the paternity declaration are automatically registered with joint parental responsibility if the child was born after 1 January 2006.

Non-cohabiting parents

When the parents do not live together, the mother has sole parental responsibility. The decisive factor for this is the address the parents have at the time the paternity declaration was signed.

Once a national identity number has been assigned to the child, we'll ask the person(s) with parental responsibility to register a name for the child.

If the parental responsibility for the child is shared between both parents, and if the notification regarding the registration of a child’s name has been submitted by only one parent, the other parent must approve the name.

The other parent can approve the name by logging in.

When the child's name is registered in the National Population Register, the person(s) with parental responsibility will receive a confirmation of the child's name and national identity number.

To see what information we have registered about you and any children you have parental responsibility for, you can log in.

If the mother is not resident in Norway

If the mother is not registered as resident in Norway when the child is born, the child will also be registered as not resident in Norway.

If the father or co-mother is registered as resident in Norway, and the parenthood is registered in the National Population Register, we may consider registering the child as resident at the father's/co-mother's address.

When the child is registered as born in Norway and the mother is resident abroad, we will register parental responsibility as «unknown». If you have not received the form to report your child's name, please contact us and we'll send the form to you.

Registering the child as resident in Norway

If you want the child to be registered as resident in Norway, you must report a move to Norway for the child and the child must meet the requirements for residency. Read more about moving.

Legal sources